Ex-Westboro Members Say They’re ‘Lost’ But on ‘Incredible’ Journey After Leaving Anti-Gay Church

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Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper surprised the world last year when they announced that they had left the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, the fiery group known for protesting against gays and at U.S. military funerals.

In an interview with the Jewish Journal, Megan, 28, admitted that the two are still coping with their decision to leave the church — one that has left them cut-off and ostracized from their family members.

“We both still feel pretty lost,” she said. “But we’re getting there. The journey is incredible.”

After years of picketing along side her mother, Shirley Phelps-Roper, and other family members at Westboro, Megan now lives in South Dakota and is dating a young man, the Journal reported.

Megan Phelps holding anti-Lady Gaga signs during her time with Westboro Baptist Church (Photo Credit: Facebook)

Grace, 21, struggles with the concept of God, telling the outlet that she’s not sure if he exists. The confusion follows her experiences with Westboro Baptist Church — a religious sect she had known for her entire life.

While Grace, who hopes to one day work for National Geographic, moved back to Topeka to complete her degree in studio art, Megan is still uncertain of what she wants to do professionally. For now, they’re still journeying.

Considering that Megan and Grace are the grandchildren of Fred Phelps, the man who became infamous as an anti-gay crusader after launching his Westboro “ministry” decades ago, their separation was noteworthy.

“In a city in a state in the center of a country lives a group of people who believe they are the center of the universe; they know Right and Wrong, and they are Right. They work hard and go to school and get married and have kids who they take to church and teach that continually protesting the lives, deaths, and daily activities of The World is the only genuine statement of compassion that a God-loving human can sincerely make. As parents, they are attentive and engaged, and the children learn their lessons well.

This is my framework.

Until very recently, this is what I lived, breathed, studied, believed, preached – loudly, daily, and for nearly 27 years.”

The letter also acknowledged that the two know they have hurt the American people with their protesting, a fact they regret. But the note essentially embraced the notion that the past is the past, despite how ugly.

Megan and Grace said they were intent on trying “to find a better way to live from here on.” It seems they are now living that out.

Read more about their separation from the Westboro Baptist Church here.